Everything I need
by Babs.Cullen
Summary: As Renee dies of cancer, Bella has no other option but to move in with Charlie, a rich business man that she has never met. With too much time for herself, what happens when she meets a strange boy downtown? normal pairings/vampires I suck at summaries.
1. New bed, new life

**A/N: Well this is my first fanfic and I hope you like it. I'm not a native speaker so please don't be too harsh on me...**

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish, I don't own twilight or any of the characters. That belongs to Stephenie Meyer**

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I woke up that morning with an impending feeling of doom on my mind. As I tried to open my eyes and failed miserably, I was still unable to remember what was the reason behind it. I was restless and I couldn't quite understand why, seen as I'd gone to bed around nine the night before, until I reached out my hand searching for the switcher of the pinkish bed lamp my mother had bought me when I was a child, and found nothing but more bed. Could I possibly be that far from the edge of the bed? I stretched my other arm and yet all I could find was more sheets and a huge pillow. And then it hit me.

I tried to focus on the noises that were supposed to be coming out of the kitchen, I had always woken up to my mother's attempt at breakfast, and yet, today, nothing came. It was silent. I wasn't used to silence and I found it uncomfortable. I already knew that the noises wouldn't come but still I couldn't help myself, I had to hope for them to come. Because the other option would be accepting that my mother had left me. Not in a "I wanted this holidays all my life and I simply can't afford to take you" way, but in a "I'm sorry I'll never get to see you graduate but I know you will turn out a fine lady" way.

I fought the instinct to hide my head under the pillow and cry until all my anguish had vanished. I fought the instinct to scream until someone, my mom, came and lied here next to me on this over sized bed. I had to calm myself, for my own good, and more important, for Charlie's good. My father (I was still getting used to the idea of having one let alone calling him that) was the owner of a multi-something, some sort of corporation that I was having some trouble understanding. All I knew was that he made loads of money selling houses and farms and all sorts of places where one can live.

I had never really got to know him seen as my mother had never told me who my father was. All she had ever told me was that they had been high school sweethearts and when he got his first job offer at a major company she let him go to Seattle all by himself so that she could stay in L.A. and pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Needless to say that, like most of the things she got herself into, that too was just a phase of her life. Only after did she find out that she was pregnant, and even though she wasn't ready to be a single mother, she still abandoned her dream to raise me. She never told Charlie and neither did I expect her to. She wanted him to be happy and she knew that he would probably leave Seattle to take care of us and that would doom him to a life of unhappiness.

So, Charlie found out about my existence when Renee got cancer. At first she thought she was going to be able to fight it. But as it became more and more obvious that wining the fight against cancer would be highly unlikely, she started to prepare me for what was coming. She told me everything she thought I needed to know about graduation, college, marriage and children, and then she told me about Charlie. I could tell she wasn't too happy about me moving in with him but I was going to start my freshman year at high school and I couldn't just live all by myself with no income.

When she died, I was devastated, I knew that it was going to happen but I still wasn't ready for it. At first, I kept living at our old house, waking up every morning and cooking breakfast like she used to, playing crappy old songs around the house and dancing on my tiptoes like she did so many times before. But after I had spent all my savings on food, I had to face reality and call Charlie. It was the end of summer but from what Renee had told me about Charlie, he must be working and I didn't want to have to hurry my story so I called him on a Sunday hoping that he wasn't such a workaholic that he would be working even on a Sunday.

The conversation wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. He took it pretty well seen as I had just told him that he had a daughter who was moving in with him because his high school sweetheart had died of cancer. At first he was a little bit astonished but he seemed to remember my mother remarkably well and he didn't doubt my word even once when I told him that I was his daughter. He sent me some cash so that I could feed myself for another two weeks while I packed all my belongings and then he bought me the plane ticket.

So that was why I had woken up in a bed that was completely strange to me. A bed that was way too big for just one person. In a bedroom that was way too big for it. I got up and tried to remember last night. I had arrived around noon and Charlie had been at the airport to greet me. I had to admit that he wasn't such a bad person, he had a wide smile in what I figured was an attempt to make me feel at ease. He failed miserably but I still gave him some credit for trying. I greeted him with an awkward "hi dad" and then stared at my feet while I waited for him to say something. Eventually he managed to whisper " I'm sorry. This shouldn't have happened like this. I'm sorry Renee had to die for us to meet. I liked her and I'm sorry you are hurting." I looked up to see his eyes full of grief and I knew, at that instant, that Charlie was a nice person and we would get along.

When we got home (I still flinched at the thought of this house as my home), he had shown me my bedroom and then left me alone to unpack. It took me forever to get all my clothes in the right places of the damn closet and by the time I was finished I just needed to get some rest. So even if it was too early to go to bed, I went downstairs (probably the only place I knew of this house apart from my bedroom) and waved Charlie goodnight since I wasn't comfortable with kissing him goodnight yet.

I wondered where he was now. Reluctantly I called Brianne, the only other person I knew in this town. She was supposed to be Charlie's housekeeper but I got the feeling that she was more like a friend now. She was at my door in no time wearing what seemed to be her uniform to work.

"_Good morning miss Swan. Is there anything I can do for you?"_ - she asked too politely

"_Oh Brianne I could use a friend right now so please call me Bella. No need for all the formality." - _I didn't want her to know how desperate I was for someone to talk to but I could see no other way to ask her that.

"_Sure Bella. Did you need something?"-_ apparently it had worked because this was so much better.

"_Yes, I was wondering where Char-, I mean my dad was..." _

"_Ooh... Mr. Swan has already left for work. He asked me to make sure you ate something because you skipped dinner last night and to introduce you to the rest of the house. So, maybe you should get dressed while I get you something to eat and then I can either show you the house or you can go out and get to know the city. What do you think?" -_ I saw guilt cross her face and wondered if she regretted that he wasn't home to show me himself. But I didn't want to be rude by asking her that so I just agreed.

"_Sounds good enough..."_

I made clear that I was going to get dressed now, and she understood it and left the room. I went to my private bathroom, where I hadn't been before, and once again I felt like a three year-old because everything was just too big. The center of the bathroom was occupied by a huge round bathtub and the entire room seemed to revolve around it. There was a shower at one of the corners near the door and a toilet on the other corner near the door. The opposite wall was filled with a long stand with two simple square sinks in the middle. I couldn't understand why would someone need such a huge stand when there was a perfectly good dressing table by the bedroom's window but... maybe that's just me.

I took a quick shower trying to erase any sign of my plane trip and after brushing my hair I went to the closet and grabbed some old clothes without even looking at them. I stuffed my wallet, my sunglasses (hoping I'd get the chance to use them), my mobile and a set of keys Charlie had given me yesterday inside my welcome gift – a Prada handbag – and ran downstairs.

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**Please review... It would be great to have some feedback**


	2. New car, new people

**A/N: Thank you to all my sweet reviewers. I tried extra hard to update today because I'm going into exam frenzy and I know that I won't be able to update for a while. I hope you like it. Edward is finally in! And so is Alice! Yay**

**Keep reviewing! It's what motivates me... or I will just depress over my exams and then fail miserably at them! Also tell me what you think about the length, would you rather have the chapters shorter?**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the damn cheerios or mercedes... I do own Brianne though! Yay for that**

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When I got downstairs I had some trouble finding the kitchen but eventually (which means after walking inside the pantry, the bathroom and a room I had no idea what it was for) I managed to find the kitchen. Brianne had already prepared all sorts of foods. If I didn't know better, I would think she was trying to feed the entire town. There was a plate with scrambled eggs, a dish with bacon, three types of bread, cereals, milk, coffee and four types of juice. Obviously, that made me slightly uncomfortable, I was used to eating cold pizza for breakfast because my mother's experiences were rarely eatable. After going on about it in my head I decided on how to say it to Brianne without hurting her feelings.

"_Hum... You know... Brianne... I don't mean to be ungrateful or anything but there's really no need for all of this... I am perfectly happy with a bowl of cheerios" - _I examined her face trying to understand her reaction, apparently it wasn't that bad.

"_Oh Bella of course. This is just while I don't know what you like. I wasn't planing on making this all mornings... Poor kids starving in India!"_

"_Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Well, since it's already on the table, why don't you join me?" -_ she seemed amused at my invitation, like somehow I was missing something obvious.

"_Well Bella it just so happens that I don't eat eggs, or bread, or anything fried. Neither do I eat cereals. So my breakfast would be milk and juice! Ah ah"_

"_Oh! What do you eat then?" -_ I tried not to sound too pushy but I wasn't sure if I had done a good job.

"_All sorts of things actually. Soy and veggies and I don't know... Stuff like that."_

"_Hum. That's really interesting Brianne. Maybe some day I'll try." - _I tried to sound interested but I just couldn't imagine living without meat and fish. I could live without bread, cereals and all that "I'm on a diet" sort of thing... But being a vegetarian? It just wasn't for me. Too much self control needed.

"_Well if you're done than maybe we should go right?"_

"_Oh most definitely. Lets go" - _I grabbed my bag and tried to pay as much attention to the house as I could while we were making our way to the garage. By the time we got there I was pretty sure I was able to go from point A to point B without getting lost which was pretty good for a person like me. I had the most terrible sense of orientation, I was even able to get lost inside Walmart.

When we entered the garage I suddenly noticed that Brianne was looking kind of weird. I tried to pinpoint the reason but I just couldn't understand it so, not able to hold my curiosity, I asked her.

"_Hey Brianne what's wrong?"_

"_Hum... Well Bella I wish your father was here to give you this but I guess I'll have to do it. You know, when he found out about you he made every arrangement so that your stay here would be less hard on you. He refurnished the entire bedroom with what he thought a girl would need. And... He bought you a car." - _Oh my God! A car! Since I had my license all I had had the opportunity to drive was my mother's old van. And now I was getting a car of my own.

"_Oh Brianne that's really nice of him but... There was no need for it. Really." - _I tried to make sure she understood I wasn't really comfortable with the idea of getting presents from Charlie but I think the enthusiasm shown in my eyes kind of ruined the whole point.

I started to look around, trying to figure out which one of those cars would be mine. I tried to imagine myself sitting on the Rolls but I doubted that would be mine. Then I moved on to picturing myself behind the wheel of the Hummer but it was just too surreal. Suddenly Brianne's mobile phone rang and I was called back to reality. I heard her say something like "Sure, Fine, Of course" and hung up. Then, she looked at me sort of embarrassed and gave an entire speech at two hundred miles an hour.

"_I'm so sorry Bella but I can't show you the town today. The gardener is having some trouble with the water and I need to call someone to fix it before an inundation happens. You can still go if you want." _- she threw the keys at me and kept going - _"You can take your car and explore the city. I'll show you the rest tomorrow ok?"_

I tried my best not to sound disappointed but I truly hated being on my own in a place I barely even knew.

"_Of course Brianne, don't worry about it"_ - was all I managed to get out.

After she left the garage I looked at the keys in my hand and realized that they belonged to a Mercedes. There was only one Mercedes in the garage but I couldn't believe _that_ was my car! I opened the jeep's door and I sat in. Wow. Despite its classy look and shiny paint job I was pretty sure I could knock down a tree with it. It was just so big and scary. Wow. I managed to get out of the property without killing anything on the way and then I took the first road I found. As I had anticipated, it took me right to the center of town. I thought it would be hard to find a spot to park but it was surprisingly easy and I didn't have any trouble maneuvering it.

I got out and walked a little bit until I found a nice enough coffee spot and sat at the esplanade trying to absorb as much sun as I could but there were too many clouds. In an act of rebellion against the bad weather I put my sunglasses on and pretended I was sunbathing. I would have to get used to "cloudbathing" eventually but not yet. That was the first time I saw him. While I was trying to find something on the list that I could actually force down my throat (I was way too full from breakfast but I wanted to stay there just thinking about all the changes I was going through so I had to pay for something), I saw him across the street.

I was trying to get used to the idea of not being able to get even the faintest tan on my skin with this crappy weather when his pale skin called my attention. God, Why did everyone go to the beach to get tanned? Why did you need a tan when a pale skin could be that gorgeous? I, then, realized that I was really pale too and my skin was far from gorgeous, so it must be just his skin that looked that amazing even under this constant shadow of clouds. He was alone and I caught myself wishing he would come talk to me. But then I shook my head trying to shake the thought away. Wake up Bella! Don't you think you have enough on your mind right now?You don't need any boy drama to add to the list.

I knew that my inner voice was right, as much as I hated to admit it. So I stood up and walked away without ordering anything, leaving a confused waiter behind. In my way to the car I passed a pixie-like girl who was standing on her tiptoes trying to call someone's attention. I heard her shout enthusiastically_"Edward look what I found! Esme is so going to love it!" _and instinctively turned my head to hear the response. The God-like creature I had just been drooling about was staring at the girl with the most seductive crooked smile I had ever seen. I met his eyes for a fraction of a second and I saw the strangest expression. Almost immediately I looked away and got in my car ashamed that I had been caught staring. I started the engine and drove home without another glance at him or the tiny girl who looked like an over-sized doll and was most definitely his girlfriend.

I parked the car just in the middle of the driveway (I was in no mood to squeeze it between all the other cars in the garage) and sat there for quite a while trying to figure out his expression. All these years reading people's faces had to count for something. If I had to guess I would say that it started as a smug look almost like he was used to being stared at, and then confusion crossed his face only to be replaced by frustration. I had to be wrong because that made no sense at all. Why would he, I mean why would _Edward_, be frustrated? Maybe he was just wishing his girlfriend hadn't caught me staring at him. Yeah, that made a lot more sense.

I got out of the car, trying to forget the fact that I had just been siting in there thinking about him for almost half an hour, and made my way to my bedroom. Apparently Brianne was still in the garden because I couldn't hear any noise inside the house. Or maybe she was just in another wing, for all I knew this house could have wings. I lay across my bed and stared at the ceiling for a long period of time until I decided I was turning a small incident into a big Hollywood production. Maybe I had just got too bored of this place and my inner self was trying to entertain me. I shall hope.

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**Dont forget I want to know what you thought about it... XD**


	3. Neighbors

**A/N: I'm right in the middle of my exams but I took the time to post this so please take the time to review... Thank you**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Twilight but S.M. thought of it first... XD**

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I decided that since I was going to have to live here, than maybe I could make the best out of it. I went to my bedroom, grabbed my bikini and went looking for the pool. It couldn't be that far, right?

Half way through it I managed to spot the garden and some of those chairs I used to see by the pool on The Hills so I figured the pool had to be somewhere nearby and it sure was.

The weather was crappy as always but at least the water was warm and I was able to distract myself from the afternoon events. Well, that was until I decided to peak to the neighbors lawn. I didn't actually peak but I was looking that way when his head just happened to stroll by. Could I be any more of a stalker? I heard him say something like "_I'm coming, let me just pick up some flowers. It's customary" _but he was speaking too low for me to be sure.

And then I heard the bell ring. I had no idea how these things of having a housekeeper worked but Brianne seemed to be nowhere to be seen so I guessed I would have to get the door myself. Reluctantly I got out of the water still wondering what Edward was doing next door, I intended to dress something before attending the door but I couldn't find anything and my bikini was way too wet for it to work, so I just went as I was and hoped that the visitor didn't mind.

I opened the door to see a pale white face smiling at me holding a tray of home-made cookies decorated with flowers. She was the sweetest person I had ever met. Just looking at her made me feel at ease. Though that was strange because I didn't feel like feeling at ease, I just didn't seem to be able to help it, it was stronger than me. So, I flashed a big smile at the woman standing at Charlie's door, my door, she looked like a mother, the kind of person you imagine waking up early to get the kids' lunch ready and driving them to school wishing them a happy day. Too surreal.

Eventually, I managed to snap out of it and say something:

"_Hum... Hi... What can I do for you? Are you friends with Charlie? He isn't home yet but you can come in if you want... I guess" - _I was way too hesitant and I don't think I sounded welcoming but that was the best I was going to manage. And then the friendly lady spoke:

"_Hello honey. You must be Bella, I'm Esme and this is my family. We are friends with Charlie, well at least when he is home" - _she laughed a carefree laugh that made me feel like I knew her for a long time - "_He told us you were moving in and, since he isn't around much and Brianne has her hands full with this huge house, I thought you would like some company."_

"_Oh! Hum, sure. Please come in. How rude of me to have you waiting at the door. I apologize but I was at the pool so if you could just give me a minute to change I would join you in the living room... Which is... Hum... I'm not sure... but you can look around and if you find a place with sofas I'm pretty sure that's it"_

I was embarrassed to admit how little I knew of this house but Esme didn't seem to mind. I said hi to what looked like her husband, though he was way too handsome to be something other than a star and rushed to my bedroom without even taking a glance at the ones on the back. I stripped out of my bikini in a second and threw a dress over my head. I tried to brush my hair but it was impossible so the wet look would have to do. Then I ran downstairs again.

I didn't have such a hard time finding the room as I would have expected and when I got in, most of them were already sat. I went around the couch to get a better look at all of them and my jaw dropped. Esme was sitting at the far end of the sofa right next an empty seat that I guessed to be for her "husband" who was still standing, on that same couch were also a huge guy or man or God knows what, with his arm around (what I was sure to be) a supermodel. But that wasn't what surprised me the most, right across from them, still standing, was a pixie-like over sized doll that I immediately recognized from this afternoon, happily talking to Edward. She was shadowed by a pained-looking guy who kept his eyes on her every single move.

In that fraction of a second I remember hearing Esme talking but I had no idea what she was saying because I was still staring at Edward, who was no longer paying attention to the pixie-like girl who kept talking to him, and was looking at me with the same confused expression I had seen in his face downtown. Suddenly I was aware that Esme has stopped talking, and so did everyone else. They were all looking either at me or Edward and then a moment went by and the blond supermodel cleared her throat and brought me back to reality.

"_Oh I'm sorry Esme, I didn't catch what you were saying... Do you mind repeating?" _- I said trying to focus.

"_Sure Bella. Well this is my husband Carlisle, and this is Emmet and Rosalie, and Alice, Jasper and Edward over there."_

"_Hum... I don't mean to be rude but are you all related?"_

Emmet chuckled at my remark and Carlisle smiled in a friendly way, he was the one who answered and his voice was just as amazing as everything else. It was full of wisdom.

"_Well Bella I'm a little young to have all this children don't you think? Rosalie is Jasper's sister and they are related to Esme. We took them in when they were younger, their parents died in a car-crash."_

I interrupted Carlisle slightly horrified: "_Oh I'm so sorry. I had no idea..."_

But Carlisle dismissed my apologies_ "It's ok Bella, it was a long time ago. As to Edward, Emmet and Alice, they are foster kids. Since we have a good stable life we decided to give something back and take in some needed children. Well of course they are all grown up now" - _Carlisle finished like he was proud of who they had become.

"_I... Don't know what to say... That's very generous of you." - _I had no idea what else to say seen as I was still glad that the pixie-like girl wasn't Edward's girlfriend, so I was grateful when Alice interrupted me:

"_Esme can I? Can I? Please!"_

"_Hum... I guess so Alice. Well, you tell me... Can you?"_ - Esme replied looking a little afraid of whatever Alice was asking permission for. But Alice just smiled brightly and then slided to my side (why couldn't I walk like that?) and skidded right to a stop in front of me. I felt a strange urge to take 2 steps back but her reassuring smile didn't let me. I had no idea what to expect but I sure as hell didn't expect _that._ She threw her arms around me and hugged me as if we were long time friends. I saw the shocked look on Edward's face, the incredulity on Jasper's, the indifference on Rosalie's, the amusement on Emmet's, the hesitation on Esme's and the curiosity on Carlisle's.

"_Hi Bella! I'm Alice, we met downtown remember?"_

"_Hum... Yeah, I was exploring the city but it didn't work out very well." - _I confessed shyly. Alice's eyes were bright from excitement and I could hardly understand what she said next because she was speaking way too fast:

"_Do you want me to show you? I'd love to! I know all the best shops in town, trust me..."_

I didn't have time to answer because suddenly Edward was right next to her with a hand on her shoulder and I was mesmerized by his voice:

"_Alice, don't you think it's a little too soon for you to be bothering Bella?"_ - he chuckled

Alice made a face and turned her back on us with a simple "_Fine, whatever". _I felt guilty because I knew that Alice meant well and it was nice to have a girlfriend with whom to shop, so I tried to stop her.

"Wait Alice! I would love it... Really!"

But no one was paying attention to Alice anymore because in my attempt to stop her, my hair had swung around me and missed Edward's face by inches. I was prepared to apologize but I noticed a sudden shift on the mood of the room that kept me from speaking. As my hair missed him by inches, Edward instantly froze in place, I don't think he was even blinking let alone breathing. Alice looked back horrified, stared wide into Edward's eyes and whispered so low that I wasn't sure I wasn't imagining it "_No... Please, Edward!". _It made no sense at all, and everyone else seemed to be as confused as I was, at least until Alice spoke:

"_Bella let's go, I'll show you the whole town now. What do you think?" - _she didn't even gave me a chance to refuse or even change clothes, she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to my car. I looked again to the rest of them, as I was being towed, hoping to understand, but their faces were all horrified as awareness replaced confusion. The last thing I saw was Emmet moving swiftly to Edward's side and placing both his hands on Edward's shoulders. Edward just stood there motionless, speechless, and for all I could tell breathless.


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